Halloween Anya

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe Challenge #129 (Pumpkin + Cat (on the boo cut-apart) + Interactive Element)

I really wanted to ink up the Miss Anya All Year stamp set and since I was also eager to dive into my Thirty-One paper pack, I picked the image of the girl holding a pumpkin. I had this plan to give her colored hair, so the collection colours allowed me to go for pink. As I was gathering my supplies, I realized I could make a birthday card for my older niece. She celebrates her birthday at the end of October and therefore has always associated Halloween with her birthday. We don't necessarily do the amalgam, but she loves having the Halloween theme linked to her birthday. The fact that this collection is colorful and soft made for the perfect birthday card. She's also decided lately that black is her favorite colour (she's going into full pre-teenager mode), so another reason to pick that collection for her.

I stamped my Anya image in Tuxedo Black ink and colored her with Copic markers. I added Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the eyes and mouth of the pumpkin and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer to her hair. It looks really cool when the card catches the light. No dies for this set (as far as I know), so I cut the image out the good ol' fashioned way. 

Because my niece has also stated repeatedly that she LOVES interactive card, I looked at my Lawn Fawn dies and picked the Double Slider Surprise, which would allow me to use even more pretty paper. Because I wanted to wrap ribbon around the front of the slider and not have it in the way of the mechanism, I did my slider pocket in pink cardstock and die-cut a second piece of patterned paper to layer over the slider pocket. I layered die-cut bats (patterned paper over black glitter paper), distressed the edges of a cut-apart and picked a bow I had previously made. I recently found the Creative Bows dies from Moda Scrap on clearance and was interested in adding different bow formats to my collection. I was really curious to see how the bows looked and their size so I tested the dies out on the Thirty-One papers, knowing I was bound to play with the collection in the upcoming months. (It's a great die-set, by the way. You get two sizes of bows and the tails and shapes are all different. Really good deal for a reasonable price.)

I had recently been looking through my buttons and had left aside two colours that are sliders, thinking it would be neat to use them with ribbon on a project. The pink one was the perfect shade and size, so I looked at my ribbons and went for the black and white striped one. As I was assembling my items on the slider, I remembered this collection includes tinsel, so I pulled it out and started playing with it. Once I tried wrapping the black tinsel around the button, I loved the look and I kept the idea, using my glue gun to keep it in place. I switched to a smaller bow for better proportions, and I added a die-cut sentiment and cut-apart image to the two sliding pieces of the card.

For the background, I remembered I had found glittery tulle at the dollar store lately (it looks great, but it sheds glitter very heavily), so I tested out the colours and decided I liked the orange in the background. I layered it over my starry patterned paper, holding it in place with four mini staples. The silver was a little bright for me, so I colored them with my Copic markers in a dark C10 (dark grey). I made a card base out of Soft Sky cardstock, glued the paper on it and I added the double slider to the card with dimensional foam. Then... I found out the slider was moving around on the staple tulle. So I pulled it off the card, plugged in my glue gun again and hot glued the panel in place. The panel is now much more secure and I can move the sliding parts in and out way more easily.

I knew I would need an oversized envelope and couldn't make one out of patterned paper since I only have an 8" x 8" paper pad currently. I remembered I had an envelope from Anthropologie from a few years ago I had put aside to repurpose, so I pulled it out and not only the size was perfect, but the lining was the same bluish colour as the papers. I used a piece of paper and a cut-apart image to decorate the envelope (and hide the Anthropologie logo) and I used another one of my die-cut bows. I also added a little potion bottle that was hand-cut from patterned paper to the bottom strip with dimensional adhesive.

I also remembered another thing that my niece goes crazy over: little clips with dangles on them. I've started making some in the past year and she always unclips them from the project and play around with them endlessly. I was putting ribbon away and realized I could make one of my beloved ribbon tassle, and then add the jack-o-lantern beads I found on a recent trip to the crafts store. I was a little unsure about the bead when I pulled it out as it's bright orange and the papers have more of a soft papaya colour to them, but I decided to go for it as I know my niece will love the dangle either way. I included a little mother-of-pearl star on there as well. I wanted to add an eyelet and clip the dangle on the envelope directly, but I was afraid the stitching would unravel if I punched my hole over it and as I feared, the eyelet ended up too far from the side of the envelope to clip it in. So I improvised and added black cord to tie it on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Anya All Year (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Pale Papaya, Whisper White, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Cotton Candy (Bazzill); Holographic Set 2 (Pink & Main)
Patterned Papers: Thirty-One (Prima Marketing)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Creative Bows (Moda Scrap); Wonky Stitch Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things);
Double Slider Surprise (Lawn Fawn); Bonne fête/Merci (Dee's Distinctively);
Halloween Bats (Recollections); Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Bling Stickers (Recollections); Mini Stapler, Stampin' Dimensionals, Distressing Tool,
Black and White Striped Ribbon, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins,
various ribbons and black cord, Eyelet (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Thirty-One Tinsel Trim (Prima Marketing); Black Glitter Washi Tape (Unknown);
Orange Sparkly Tulle (Dollar Store); Jack-o-Lantern and Mother-of-Pearl Star Beads (Bead Landing);
Pinking Shears; Midas Touch and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo)

 

Comments

[Stef Perry]

What an amazing card, Cindy! The level of detail and fun interactive elements should certainly please your niece, along with the colors and Halloween theme! Cute idea to repurpose an envelope to fit the oversized card! Thanks so much for joining us this week at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge!

[Silke Ledlow]

Soooo cute :) !!! Haven't seen an Anya image in forever....well done!

[Kathleen Chabot]

Ta nièce sera super contente!